The oldest from the saved dramas of Aeschylus and the first complete text of the world dramaturgy. The play of Frynichos 'Phoenissae' written upon the same subject, that is the defeat of the Persians in the naval battle of Salamis, stood as prototype for The Persians. The drama is not praise for Athens but the study of a defeat. This is achieved through shifting of the point of view, as the events are not presented from the side of the winners but from the side of the defeated. In the whole play not even a Greek name is mentioned while on the contrary we see existing analytical catalogues of barbaric names, towns, countries and leaders of the Persian army. 'The Persians' is primarily a lament for the defeat of Xerxis who exceeded the limits of prudence to reach hubris in his effort to conquer Greece subduing Ellispondos and insulting Gods with the sacrileges he committed against the temples of the Greeks.
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